


Heartbeat

by cupidcheng



Category: ATEEZ (Band), K-pop
Genre: M/M, THIS MIGHT ACTUALLY BE SLOW BURN BUT IDK YET, big UWU, for real i love him mom, i feel bad for yeona (kinda), im sad that they havent updated/been on since may 2019, just soft stuff pretty much, my friends call me evil for thinking about major character death while writing fluff, no one dies (i promise), seonghwa is a panicked gay, the one where yeosang has a twin sis, this is kinda like happysad by honeyjoongs on wattpad, yeosang baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2020-12-21 00:00:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21065369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupidcheng/pseuds/cupidcheng
Summary: In a heartbeat, just a single heartbeat, Seonghwa knows that his heart isn’t beating for the right person. He thought it might’ve been because Yeona was beside him, curling her pretty fingers around his waist, but it only happened when her twin brother was in the room, too.Only when he caught those wandering eyes, stuck in a gaze and lost somewhere up in the stars far away from the living room they resided in, did his heart thump so loudly in his chest.





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> slow updates tbh bc i’ve super busy at school but i hope you like this :3 it’s basically a school fic where they’re second years (basically juniors in high school) but seonghwa is in class five with yeona while yeosang is in class three with his friends mingi and yunho ^^

“Park Seonghwa! Get up and get your stuff for English.” Kang Yeona lightly rested her hand on his shoulder, fingers brushing over his cheek with a soft smile strung upon her lips that he wouldn’t have been able to see.

He rolls his eyes in the nicest way possible, grabbing his books and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. And without a second thought, he kisses her cheek and intwines their fingers with his free hand not carrying the books as they walk out of the class and to the lockers.

“Can I come over tonight? To study English, I mean?” He sends her a cheeky grin, taking the geography book he previously had and shoving it into the locker numbered 612. He stuck his calligraphy book into his backpack, zipping it up and sighing gently when his girlfriend started playing with his hair.

It was calming, her threading her fingers through it ever so often, gently smiling up at him. He was glad that being tall ran in her family because most girls were at least ten inches shorter than him. Yeona was thankfully 5’9, which still gave them a nice enough height difference.

“Of course, Seongie.” Her words sounded as if she couldn’t believe he even had to ask. He smiled at that, too. But her smile was cut short as she stopped running her fingers through his hair and crossed her arms. “God,” she lightly slapped her forehead with a chuckle. “I completely forgot Yeosangie isn’t staying after for studying in Han’s classroom. You won’t mind him being home, right?”

Seonghwa had never met Kang Yeona’s infamous twin brother from Class 3 as he was his classes president and made sure to stay after until ten in the afternoon studying at school which led to him never running into Seonghwa when he was at their house.

He wouldn’t mind, though. Meeting him would be interesting. From what his girlfriend had said about him, a lousy eater with a lousy mouth yet one of the kindest human beings she had ever met when they weren’t the bickering brother-and-sister twins they were, he seemed like a decent enough person.

Perhaps he’d even befriend him if their meeting was satisfying enough. Although, he felt something in the pit of his stomach that felt..nice but scary at the same time. As if it was butterflies dancing up a storm after being freed from their cocoons. 

He had heard of that feeling before, but he hadn’t received it until then. Still, he was happy because it must’ve meant he wanted to go to the next step in his relationship with his girlfriend by meeting the most important figure in her life—her shorter twin brother with brown hair that had locks of faded red. The boy with glitter under his eyelashes because he made a mess in the arm room more often than not when he stayed after school.

He had never thought that the butterflies in the pit of his stomach, fluttering for Kang Yeona, were just a sad bunch of moths on the darkest of days. He had never thought that they newly made butterflies were a contribute to his newfound information on Yeosang as Yeona continued on and on about him all throughout English and P.E.

His heart had never thumped in his chest the way it did when he was on the bus home with Yeona and shared a glance with the boy who had most definitely made a mess of himself in the art room that day—the usual glitter by his eyelashes with small red and yellow splashes of paint on his cheeks. As it was hot on the bus that day, Yeosang’s normal uniform had been stripped off of him and only a tanktop remained.

Seonghwa swore he saw him wearing a smirk across then lips adorned in lip gloss with one touch of green on his bottom lip from the act of finger painting. The pads of his fingers were different colours, he noticed, and he looked like a walking Artsy Boy.

He wasn’t a typical shy, nerdy Class President by any means. He wasn’t even wearing glasses at that moment, but Seonghwa knew he had them by glancing towards the glasses case he had in his opened bag that had the uniform blazer being tucked into.

The fact that Kang Yeosang looked nothing like he expected was scary enough. He was a different kettle of fish that was being cooked up and the poor Park Seonghwa wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

But he smiled at his girlfriend’s brother and went back to to leaning his head on her shoulder, hand resting on her thigh and his palms sweaty at the thought of being in the same house as Kang Yeosang for hours only a matter of a few minutes.

He was absolutely and utterly screwed at that moment.


	2. one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for this being a bit late!! i’ve not been in the best of moods recently

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we have seonghwa and yeosangie meeting!! wow!!

Kang Yeona looked a lot like her twin brother but no way in Hell did those two have a single thing in common. In fact, it was as if they _meant_ to be complete opposites. Yeosang was messy, didn’t talk much, and he liked to keep his distance with a smug expression laid out on his face like he just _knew_he was getting on someone’s nerves.

With this information, it is easy to assume that Yeona was a neat freak, talked even when she wasn’t supposed to, and she inevitably was a bit _too_ clingy if he were be honest.

But Seonghwa liked that about her. He liked showing affection towards people he liked and Yeona happened to be one of those. He’d occasionally cuddle with his childhood friends but most of all his PDA was with Yeona. It just felt…nice. It felt nice to do those things with someone who felt the same way. Maybe even a little bit more.

“Hi, Park Seonghwa.” The mentioned boy hummed a response, tangling his fingers together and lying them onto his lap. He tried to argue to himself that no, his heart couldn’t handle talking to complete strangers because he didn’t _know_ them. Because they were confusing and their genuine interest towards him confused him even more. It wasn’t because Yeosang still had glitter on his cheeks or because his eyes twinkled as if he were a star burning on a cold night. It was never be why because _what the fuck,_ why would he have feelings for the _other_ Kang?

It was just nervousness, he tried to assure himself. It would pass like the days he felt perfectly fine without Yeona’s clinginess and the days he wasn’t.

Of course it would pass…

It always did.

“When’d you start dating my sister?” He must’ve thought it up as a good beginning of their conversation. He bit his lip afterwards, crossing his arms and bringing his legs closer to his body. He looked so…tiny? He was two inches shorter than his own sister, so he was a whooping six inches shorter than him. And after a bit of staring, he noticed the little dark birthmark right by his left eye. It was similar to the one by Yeona’s right eye, but hers was much smaller. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed it earlier.

“Uh, a few weeks ago. What about you? Dating anyone?” Shooting back with the bat of his eyelashes was only because it felt too shortened and he for some odd reason didn’t want them to just end it at that.

Yet, he did not expect a blush to creep up his face when Yeosang turned to directly face him, his brows raised in question. “Curious? I’ve never had anyone ask, but no. I haven’t even got a first kiss yet.” He mumbled the last part but Seonghwa still heard it and grinned from ear to ear.

“That’s kind of a surprise, you know. With your good looks and all.”

Narrowing his eyes, it was as if the slits were staring right into Seonghwa’s soul. A shiver went down his back at the thought.

“Good looks, huh? If it means I get called a fag, faggot, fairy, pansy, cocksucker and a whole lot of other terrible fucking words by people then sure.” He had counted them off with his fingers, nearly hissing out the last part like a feral cat.

He’d changed from a small Pomeranian to a Doberman Pinscher trained to fight by the looks he was giving.

“I don’t do that. Does it really look like that to you?” Seeping through his voice was an emotion full of hurt. Hurt that he’d been pinned to be like those people.

“If you’re dating my sister you do.” His gaze sat on the floor, fiddling with his fingers and it left Seonghwa to wondering if he had a reason to be saying that. A reason he didn’t feel like he’d be happy hearing, yet he worried and wondered a little in his head.

But who would’ve hurt him?

Yeona’s exes? Why would they do that? But most importantly, had she known about it? If so, did she do something about it? Yeona never happened to be the confrontational type but something irked him into thinking that the reason she never wanted to talk about them wasn’t solely because she thought he’d get jealous about it.

“Well don’t start guessing that. ‘Cause I’m not like that. Not at all.” He was just appreciative of his girlfriend walking in and letting them abandon the uncomfortable positions they had been in moments before.

The girl excitedly sat in between them and put one arm around her boyfriend and the other slung around her brother, clearly not getting the sour aroma in that room from the two boys. “It’s so nice to see my two favourite people getting along so well!”

Her eyes lit up to the point that they were blinding, just like those stars that had been burning in Yeosang’s eyes only minutes ago, yet it had seemed like hours since he looked happy. He couldn’t help but to grin dumbly at her attempting to be cute. He also smiled wider when he saw Yeosang in the corner of his eye mimic her without even trying that hard and acing it.

It was cute, but he definitely wasn’t staring at Yeosang’s small smile at that moment instead of his own girlfriend’s.

But he definitely was.


	3. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seonghwa & yeosang interactions n whatnot

The ‘study’ sesh at Yeona’s house was nothing but an absolute failure. And no, they didn’t make out instead of work. It was simply a failure because Yeona was shit at English and even worse at teaching it.

Yeosang happened to be decent, however, which was one reason for Seonghwa to decide to stay after school hours for the first time in his life that wasn’t during their scheduled ‘breaks’ and it was practically mandatory since you’d be shunned if you didn’t stay at least one day. Stupid school systems.

So here he was, sitting in Class 3 where Yeosang and his classes’ shit vice-president handed out worksheets. Seonghwa had found out a little about the former’s schedule from his minimal snooping around during break. He found that his first teacher he had in the morning was the last one Seonghwa had in the afternoon and he found that he ran off to the art room to messily finger paint like a child or _actually _ paint if he _feel like it._

He had found, in those past fews days of noticing and noticing, that Kang Yeosang could do just about anything if he felt like doing it. He could sigh up for the football team half-assing it and barely know anything about kicking a ball into a net or the rules of the game and get in the team or he could even get accepted to be in the cheerleading squad in a quick two seconds if he did a single handstand. But only if he felt like it. And Seonghwa noticed—although he wished he hadn’t—throughout the time he spent pondering, that he could change the way he walked, change the way he talked, or even change the way he looked if he really _felt like it._

But he didn’t. He didn’t because even though he was given Hell and back for it, it was the closest he’d ever get to Heaven on Earth in the fucked up society they were residing in.

Only a year. Only a year until they would be seniors. Only a year and a half until they were completely free and had other problems to deal with.

Seonghwa admired all that to the point that he didn’t blame him one bit. And why would he change himself for the likes of other people that wouldn’t matter in another five years, much less a lifetime? Seeing him smile and act like a fool with his friends should’ve been all they needed. People were just cruel and terrible and he only then understand that because of that and because of time, he was able to put up with all their shit.

“Park Seonghwa…” His voice had been monotone and full of smugness when they had first met. Only a pinch of fear had been present those few days ago. Now it was only what he could’ve guessed to be a warm, friendly welcome still mixed with the weary of being around him. But not only was it that, as he received a slight, lopsided smile. Yet, it was still a smile. A nice one at that.

“Yes?” He put his cheek in the palm of his hand, batting his eyelashes like he had that day. Being annoying was a nice past time, but he had found it to be even better when he was annoying Kang Yeosang. He’d always end up having his favourite reactions that made his heart do something he was sure it wasn’t supposed to, but he could hardly care when he got him smiling like that. How many people could have that impression on Yeosang like that? He was sure it could be counted on fingers.

“You haven’t done a single problem.” Emitting a loud sigh, the boy slipped into the seat next to his and took his long-abandoned pencil to write his name on the paper, attempting at his messy hand-writing too. 

Wow, Seonghwa hadn’t even wrote his name.

His face burned when he stuck his own hand to his cheek.

“The whole point of me being here is to get help since your sister absolutely sucks at anything to do with English,” he muttered the words rather honestly, taking the pencil back and trying to read the first sentence already with struggle.

He had to explain what the English meant in Korean, but how could he when he couldn’t understand it? The whole idea was so stupid!

Yeosang was leaning over to see his paper, one arm on Seonghwa’s shoulder and he didn’t even seem to realise it. “It says, _I like talking to you._” He didn’t even bother to say it in Korean! God!

Seonghwa pinched the brink of his nose in a sad attempt to calm himself down. “And that means talking to someone?” He guessed partly from the other boy’s sorrier hand signals.

“Somewhat. It means ‘I like talking to you’,” he explained with the gentlest voice Seonghwa had ever heard him use. It was so shocking that his heart almost started pounding in his chest.

He feared he’d hear it.

“Do you?” He joked lightly with a small grin that tried to showcase that he was completely okay, squeezing his arm before the boy could attempt at a menacing glare and retaliate the arm slung over his shoulder.

“Sure.” And he rolled his eyes playfully—with that same twinkle in them again—while he scribbled something down onto his own paper and looked at the next one.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out and he soon shut it. Others in the class, people he hardly knew, were quietly chatting amongst themselves except for the bitchy vice-prez giving Yeosang heart eyes from time to time.

And the bit didn’t even notice. Or maybe, if he somehow did, he just didn’t care enough to say something or anything at all. Instead of paying Seunghun any attention after that, he turned back to his page, completely understanding the three words in the English sentence Kang Yeosang wouldn’t dare utter out loud.

_I like you._

저는 여상씨를 좋아합니다.

Passing his paper to the boy, it was no surprise that he rolled his eyes again, so he went and wrote it differently. A little bit friendlier with a spark in his eye.

나는 여상룰 좋아해.

Seonghwa was hit smack in the head by one of Yeosang’s smaller textbooks when he showed it to the boy again.

He graded that question wrong and left Seonghwa’s paper to be a 99%.


	4. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhhhhh  
this chap was kind of a mess so i apologise  
but it’s the longest one so far (yippee?) 
> 
> aaand i might work on this story tomorrow so that i’ll have another chap up soon but honestly idk where this is going and i kinda want a slow burn before i have to actually write the dreadful party scenes in my minsung fic that ive been putting off for a pitiful amount of time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight tw// seonghwa has a mid-panic attack but it’s not too explicit or anything. i went low on the details but still! read at your own risk.

“You’re an idiot.”

Those were the first words spoken by Kang Yeosang to Park Seongkwan as the latter walked through the door to Class 3, ready to pull his puppy dog eyes to plead for mercy on whatever dumb thing he did unconciously this time.

“Really? Tell me more.” The boy sat his stuff down beside the desk and left the best puppy-dog-look on his face in a pout. Yeosang once again sat into the seat next to his and slid his essay from English over to him.

It was graded a 59%. He thought it wasn’t too bad considering his last one had been a 33%. It was an improvement for a language he barely knew.

“You actually repeated every sentence at least five times and expected old hag Han to not catch on?” He sounded as if he was in disbelief.

“Oh, I did,” Seonghwa sighed and began spinning his pencil back and forth. “I just didn’t care.” And he grinned when Yeosang snatched the paper back and facepalmed.

“She gave me your notes too. They suck. Like, badly. You know you’re on your way to failing second year? It’s as if you want to be a 20 year old highschool graduate.” He chuckled a little, shaking his head at the grin on Seonghwa’s face. It seemed to be all he did whenever Yeosang said something.

“Nah,” he nonchalantly shrugged and started working on the sheet Seunghun had handed out. It had some grammar rules at the top to help him, so that definitely helped him when translating back and forth.

He found that the work was getting easier and easier and the grades he was getting were pretty nice if he said so himself. If he’d actually try his hardest, he could possibly end up not failing English that semester. How he suddenly pulled this off, he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was staying after school and getting extra work or maybe it was Yeosang’s little encouraging tips and shoulder pats. Whatever it was, he was grateful, even if half of him knew that it wasn’t okay to start feeling something for Kang Yeona’s twin brother.

Shaking his head full of a mess of black curls that had been in his eyes, it took all his effort to _not_ think about how he’d been ignoring Yeona lately and seeming to care more about his girlfriend’s brother than her. It took all his effort not to break down in an attempt to get away from everything and anyone intruding in his mind all the time. 

And what the fuck, could Seunghun maybe stop staring at Yeosang every five seconds? Seriously, he needed to get a job or something! It was annoying and causing Seonghwa to get restless as he fidgeted in his seat with eyes burning holes onto his back.

“Are you okay?” Although Seonghwa had never been nice per say, with all his teasing and what could even be considered in many cases _flirting,_ Yeosang happened to be empathetic and couldn’t end up hating the boy even if he wanted to. But with this extra kindness it only had Seonghwa’s head spinning faster and his palms start sweating as fingers were being entwined with his.

His face turned a whole two shades from what they were supposed to be. It wasn’t Halloween yet and he was already trying on his cosplay for Muno from fuckin’ Yo Gabba Gabba. Saying it was embarrassing was an understatement. It got harder to breathe when Yeosang looked at him like that, with his brows furrowed and swimming pools full of worry in his dark eyes. Why was he being given that look? He didn’t deserve his worry. He never would.

“Y-yeah.” It only came out as a whisper because his voice was too hoarse to the point that he couldn’t say anything else. “I mean, yeah. I’m okay. Alright. Just peachy.” His throat burned when he tried to breathe in deeply, head hung but appreciating the grip that got tighter on his hand and the way the other boy squeezed his hand to calm him down.

Why the fuck was he being so stupid for, worrying and making himself sick for no reason? It wasn’t something he’d normally do in front of so many people. Shame filled his eyes before he closed them shut, welcoming the pitch-black darkness until he could see shapes of blue that didn’t go away when he opened them again.

“Do you wanna go home? There’s still two hours left but I’m sure Seunghun wouldn’t mind watching over everyone while I help you. Or.. do you need to see the nurse? I think she gets off at 6 so you could go see her before she shuts the office up for the afternoon…” He trailed off still in thought, stopping his rambling when he realised he wasn’t making much sense and possibly sounding too demanding.

Seonghwa smiled. Not a smirk, not that evil shit-eating grin he had most of the time, but a genuine smile that radiated the sun and everything bright and angelic in the world. It was the first time he had done something like that and it almost had Yeosang untangling their hands and falling out of his seat. “I think I’ll be fine without visiting Nurse Min, but… sure. I’d like to go home early, if you don’t mind. My paper’s finished, anyway. You can just give me all the other papers tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday.” The way Yeosang said it, it sounded more like a question than anything. Seonghwa’s lips shaped his mouth into an ‘o’ before he chuckled and stood up. 

“Well, hmm… My mom would be getting off work about now and she’d be asleep by the time you’d drop me off and she has to get up pretty early tomorrow so I don’t think she’d exactly appreciate me waking her. So, would it be okay if I just went home with you? And you could just bring the work so that I could do it tomorrow?” The most rational thing to do would be what he suggested but he wasn’t sure his heart could take it after hearing himself say it out loud. Only then did he notice they were still holding hands and standing up while confusing most of the people in the class including the nosy VP Kim Seunghun and his uneducated 5-foot-6 best friend.

His face flushed once again when Yeosang’s did too. “Um? Sure if that’s what you want. Will you–” He stopped abrubtly and untangled their hands––much to Seonghwa’s closeted disappointment––to do some hand motions that could’ve meant a thousand different things but the latter definitely understood what he was hinting to without actually saying anything near it.

“I wasn’t planning on sleeping with Yeona or anything, no, if that’s what you were worried about.” Cringing at the way he worded it, the raven-haired boy sighed through his nose and out through his mouth before he slung his backpack’s string over his shoulder and made his way towards the door.

Yeosang followed suit, not expecting him to immediately leave without letting him explain that no, he wasn’t asking if Seonghwa was going to fucking _sleep_ with his twin sister. In retrospect, it wasn’t his fault, but _still._ He didn’t have the time to mention that she wasn’t even home in the first place because half of their family was there for some reunion and she had decided to ditch with some of their cousins to go skinny-dipping in the harsh October weather like the fucking idiot Kang Yeona was.

“Uh, Seonghwa… Is it okay that Yeona’s not home? Our family’s reunion is tonight and she’s never been too fond of all the loudness so she ditched. And.. a few are staying over and using her room, so…”

Cocking his head when he turned back to face the shorter boy, it was as if he didn’t understand why he needed to say all the unnecessary information. “Mhm? I can just sleep with you, right? Wait, no–that’s not what I meant.” His eyes turned to slits of daggers when Yeosang just burst out laughing, going on his tippy-toes to sling an arm around his shoulder. It didn’t work too well because of the height difference that made Seonghwa start laughing, too. The fact that his sister was the taller of the bunch was the most hilarious thing to the taller boy who happened to be three months older than the two.

“Yeah, yeah. No need to make fun of me not for being a giant like you. And sure. I can take the floor if you want.” He smiled at the ground, his head down and his hair hiding his face. Seonghwa, in turn, ruffled his hair and moved his arm to be placed near the smaller boy’s waist, also smiling to himself and looking the other way as they made it out of the school and over to Yeosang’s car.

“I’m perfectly fine with sharing a bed. Just ‘cause I’m an only child doesn’t mean I don’t know what sharing is.” It was another one of those almost witty remarks, those dumb jokes that were borderline flirtatious, but no way in Hell was he planning to stop them. Not even when his mind flickered to Yeona’s face and how similar it was to her brother’s. How their birthmarks were on opposite sides of their faces, how they both had one side of their hair in their face and covering their eyes whilst the other remained tucked behind their ear. While they tried to be nothing alike––Yeosang in hindsight was quiet and a listener while Yeona was loud and always assertive––but ended up doing so many things identical. Their handwriting and the way they wrote their vowels before they even thought of writing the letter before it, always leaving space for the letter before, it was all identical. Sometimes Seonghwa spent his time watching––watching and watching just like the Yeosang that listened and listened to everything without ever interrupting––the ways they were similar, fascinated by everything. How could two people who tried so hard to be different be so alike in every painstaking way?

And he seemed to always know that, too––of course Kang Yeosang did––yet he didn’t stop Yeona from doing whatever she could to distance herself. He didn’t stop her from hopping from boy to boy every time each one said a single bad thing about her brother ( It’s a package deal, isn’t it? If you want me, you have to care about Sangie too ) nor did he stop her from dumping all her friends that wouldn’t cooperate with her and her brother, yet he never mentioned it in the first place. She was either always there or never there and she never seemed to know how to control it. She started the problem and never knew how to fix it without making it worse for herself, too, but he was still there to support her. Their bond was something he was sure he’d never have with anyone, especially as someone who was alone all the time and kept to himself even when he was surrounded by friends and all the likes.

“You’re weird, Park Seonghwa, but I bet you already knew that.” Yeosang broke the silence by releasing another sigh, leaning his head against the cold window from the chilly air. The sky was already on its way to darkening, the sun far from peeking out against the bleak, grey clouds from the rainy weather they’d been having all week. He made a mental note to bring an umbrella just in case the rain didn’t stop that night, but it was blatant that a storm was on the rise by the wind and the dark clouds.

Which could also mean the flashes of lightning and the thunder that rings out after. A shiver ran down his back at the thought, but he had gone unnoticed by the Seonghwa looking out the window. “You know, Kang Yeosang? You’re pretty weird yourself.” And he turns to grin at him, but it is not the same grin as all the other times of constant teasing.

His eyes haven’t turned to crescents like the boys in those Manhwas, but his lips curve into a gummy smile with his teeth so white, they were dazzling in the darkness of the car at that time of night. That type of smile was dangerous in many ways, yet Yeosang was giving a ruthful smile back.

It would be an interesting night, to say the least.


	5. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the inconvenience,, i was binging sherlock on netflix and forgot to update lmao

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter just screams "peak panicked gay™"

The atmosphere in the room was anything _but_ not awkward. Seonghwa had not a single clue of what to say or do and Yeosang sure didn't help one bit with his constant staring whenever he did as much as move a muscle.

"Are we going to do something?" It was 8 in the afternoon and Yeosang's family weren't being thoughtful enough to keep it quieter downstairs for the teens who needed their beauty sleep, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he couldn't just plop down onto the boy's bed and instantly fall asleep.

"I dunno. What would you like to do?" he had previously changed out of his dire school uniform and into a loose tee and boxer shorts right after he took a shower, and his hair was all fluffed up and every-which-way.

Seonghwa thought he looked quite cute at that moment but of course, he'd never say it. Up until he accidentally let the words "_you're so cute_" slip out from his cursed lips.

God, was this night a mess and he had barely even breathed! "Aw shucks! If you weren't dating my sister, I might've gotten the wrong idea that you're keen on liking me better." His eyes crinkled only slightly when he innocently laughed, lightly slapping Seonghwa's lap as if it were his own and leaving his hand on there unconsciously. 

"As if I'd ever," he scoffed back playfully but did not move Yeosang's hand or shift the slightest to help him take a hint. In fact, he almost wished it would trail upwards. And the fact that he wanted that, he'd be totally okay with that, was enough to let him know something was wrong. It didn't settle right with him whatsoever.

His heart was beating too fast and Yeona wasn't near. He wasn't even nervous being around her brother so it couldn't be that.

No, he had to be nervous. His brain must have something wrong with it, just like when his palms would sweat out of being nervous at school whenever he wasn't nervous and his doctor told him he _had_ to be nervous. There was no possible reason when he didn't like him like that.

He... Seonghwa, he wasn't like _that_.

But Yeosang was. Or, at least Seonghwa thought he was. It wasn't as if sexuality was a topic amongst Korean students in their 2nd year of high school. You were assumed to be straight or else you would be labelled as disgusting. That's just how it was and it didn't look to be changing anytime soon when only a single country in the whole of Asia had same-sex marriages legalised. That left Seonghwa to not knowing if Yeosang was gay or just not looking for a forever-companion because, why would he out himself like that? Still, the idea that the boy joked about things like that when Seonghwa had started the flirting in the first place drove him nearly insane and had his heart pumping faster by the second. He held two fingers onto his neck to get his pulse and realised that it really _was_ an unhealthy number.

It wasn't even Yeosang's falt that Seonghwa had started being flirtatious with him! He couldn't blame him for suddenly doing it back and that was the worst part!

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you clearly appreciate the time I spend with you and even get flustered when I respond to your flirtatious outbreaks."

"I call absolute bullshit! Innocent until proven guilty!" Seonghwa whined some more like a child and lightly punched the boy on the shoulder.

Yeosang countered, "Admiral court once said, ‘guilty until proven otherwise' and I'd like to think it applies best here."

Kang Yeosang was absolutely unbelievable to the worst extent. In defeat, Seonghwa flopped his arms around for a bit before falling back onto the bed. After a silent moment, he joins him, although timid and hesitant at first.

"Am I guilty if I admit to appreciating the time we spend together?" he asked with a cheeky grin at the end, turning to lie on his side with eyes meeting the other set.

He swore those eyes were shining. 

"No." Yeosang's single word, it was hardly over a whisper. So inaudible when Seonghwa was only staring at the pretty birthmark he liked to hide so much.

They could have, and they undoubtedly would have—if not cursed by their luck—kissed at that very moment. They could have and very much would have if a million things weren't in the way.

And through the embarrassment ensued, the door had been opened and Seonghwa rolled away from him so fast to where he would've fallen off the bed and onto the floor had the wall not been there.

"Seongie~ why didn't you tell me you were staying over?" He froze at the sound of her voice and almost cringed when she strumbled into the room, under the influence of god knows what.

Her hair was drenched and leaving wet spots on the carpet. Her clothes, inevitably facing a similar fate, were wet and mismatched. By the way Yeosang was glaring at the inside outwards sweater, Seonghwa could tell it wasn't what she had gone out wearing that afternoon.

How did no one downstairs question her? She wasn't even 18 yet and she was a drunk mess! It was beyond saddening.

"Whose clothes are those?" Yeosang growled before he could say anything to his girlfriend. The boy silently thanked him for it.

She scowled, clenching the doorknob with her hands reddening at the knuckles. It was an odd sight considering her usual happy-go-lucky demeanour. 

"Jaehyuk's. Why do you sound so mad?" Huffing, the girl ignored the protesting of Yeosang and sat on the bed

"That third-year middle schooler? Isn't he perhaps.. too young for you?"

The fact that Yeosang was more upset than Seonghwa about who Yeona chose to hang around—especially dealing with boys—might've meant something. 

But Seonghwa didn't feel a thing. He got upset because Yeosang was upset if anything.

"No. He's cute." She glared and scooted away from him, climbing onto a started Seonghwa's lap and laying her head on the crook of his neck.

Why did he heart only beat abnormally then, at the moment when he was more embarrassed at Yeosang seeing her do that to him?

Most importantly, why did he nearly hiss and retaliate at her touch? This was _Kang Yeona,_ arguably one of the most attractive girls in the whole school _AND_ already his girlfriend, yet by the way he was acting, it was as if he had the hots for the wrong twin.

The idea did not scare him at first. Of course, he felt terrible for not feeling butterflies or whatever thing he was supposed to feel, but it all dissolved when he met the eyes of his girlfriend's twin brother.

They glistened with tears if he had looked close enough, but he was almost sure of it simply being allergies due to the coldness of the room and the outside.

Letting a sigh pass his lips when he could breathe again after she went back out of the room, he nearly gagged at the stench of alcohol. She was 17 for God's sake! The thought had him boiling with anger. Didn't she know what trouble that could cause her at such a young age? Sure, she was nearly an adult but she was still a minor nonetheless...

Once again, as he looked up into those eyes, he felt his heart escalate.

And once again, they went right back to how things started.


End file.
